Frankfort Strengthening Project: Proposed Construction of a Substation and a 132kV Power Line from Heilbron (via Frankfort) to Villiers, Free State Province Draft Basic Assessment Report DEA Reference Number: 14/12/16/3/3/1/800 NEAS Reference Number: DEA/EIA/0001625/2013 Issue Date: 7 November 2013 Revision No.: 2 Project No.: 11707 Date: 7 November 2013 Frankfort Strengthening Project: Proposed Construction of a Document Title: Substation and a 132kV Power Line from Heilbron (via Frankfort) to Villiers, Free State Province – Draft Basic Assessment Report Author: Daniela Venzo / Alistair Fyfe Revision Number: 2 Checked by: Shaun Taylor Approved: Kelly Tucker Signature: For: SiVEST Environmental Division COPYRIGHT IS VESTED IN SiVEST IN TERMS OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT (ACT 98 OF 1978) AND NO USE OR REPRODUCTION OR DUPLICATION THEREOF MAY OCCUR WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR (For official use only) File Reference Number: Application Number: Date Received: Basic assessment report in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010, promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), as amended. Kindly note that: 1. This basic assessment report is a standard report that may be required by a competent authority in terms of the EIA Regulations, 2010 and is meant to streamline applications. Please make sure that it is the report used by the particular competent authority for the activity that is being applied for. 2. This report format is current as of 1 September 2012. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ascertain whether subsequent versions of the form have been published or produced by the competent authority 3. The report must be typed within the spaces provided in the form. The size of the spaces provided is not necessarily indicative of the amount of information to be provided. The report is in the form of a table that can extend itself as each space is filled with typing. 4. Where applicable tick the boxes that are applicable in the report. 5. An incomplete report may be returned to the applicant for revision. 6. The use of “not applicable” in the report must be done with circumspection because if it is used in respect of material information that is required by the competent authority for assessing the application, it may result in the rejection of the application as provided for in the regulations. 7. This report must be handed in at offices of the relevant competent authority as determined by each authority. 8. No faxed or e-mailed reports will be accepted. 9. The signature of the EAP on the report must be an original signature. 10. The report must be compiled by an independent environmental assessment practitioner. 11. Unless protected by law, all information in the report will become public information on receipt by the competent authority. Any interested and affected party should be provided with the information contained in this report on request, during any stage of the application process. 12. A competent authority may require that for specified types of activities in defined situations only parts of this report need to be completed. 13. Should a specialist report or report on a specialised process be submitted at any stage for any part of this application, the terms of reference for such report must also be submitted. 14. Two (2) colour hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of the report must be submitted to the competent authority. 15. Shape files (.shp) for maps must be included on the electronic copy of the report submitted to the competent authority. PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A SUBSTATION AND A 132KV POWER LINE FROM HEILBRON (VIA FRANKFORT) TO VILLIERS, FREE STATE PROVINCE Executive Summary Eskom Holdings SOC Limited (hereafter referred to as Eskom) is proposing to construct a single 132kV line from Heilbron to Villiers, passing Frankfort. The power line will be approximately 95km in length and will consist of four sections that will connect to four existing and one newly proposed substation via a loop-in loop-out connection. The four existing substations include Frankfort Municipal Substation, Windfield Rural Substation, Villiers Municipal Substation and Heilbron Municipal Substation. The newly proposed substation will be located near to the existing Tweefort Rural Substation. The network in the area needs to be strengthened as there is no additional load growth possible on the existing 88kV network in the Heilbron/Frankfort/Villiers area. All developments have therefore been halted as electricity provision could not be guaranteed. SiVEST Environmental Division has been appointed as independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) by Eskom to undertake a Basic Assessment (BA) for the proposed project. The proposed development requires environmental authorisation from the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). Provincial authorities have also been consulted i.e. The Free State Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DETEA). The BA for the proposed development will be conducted in terms of the 2010 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations promulgated in terms of section 24(5) and section 44 of the National Environmental Management Act (No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA), as amended, in Government Notice (GN) No. R543. In terms of these regulations, a Basic Assessment (BA) is required for the proposed project. All relevant legislations and guidelines were consulted during the BA process and will be complied with at all times. Depending on the issuing date of the Environmental Authorisation (EA), should it be granted by the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), it is proposed that Eskom will commence construction in March 2014. The construction period for the proposed power line and substation is estimated to be 18 months. This includes the clearing of the servitude (where required), construction of the towers, stringing of the conductors and commissioning of the newly proposed line and substation. ESKOM DISTRIBUTION NORTH WESTERN REGION prepared by: SiVEST Environmental Frankfort Strengthening Project Revision No. 2 7 November 2013 Page i The proposed power line will consist of a series of connecting lines between the existing substations (Figure i). The four main sections and the associated alternatives for the proposed power line include the following: . Alternative 1C – Heilbron to New Proposed Northern Tweefort Rural Substation (approximately 37km in length); . Alternative 1D – Heilbron to New Proposed Southern Tweefort Rural Substation (approximately 43km in length); . Alternative 1E – Heilbron to New Proposed Northern Tweefort Rural Substation (approximately 40km in length); . Alternative 1F – Heilbron to New Proposed Southern Tweefort Rural Substation (approximately 41km in length); . Alternative 2C – New Proposed Northern Tweefort Rural Substation to Frankfort Municipal Substation (approximately 22km in length); . Alternative 2D – New Proposed Southern Tweefort Rural Substation to Frankfort Municipal Substation (approximately 28km in length); . Alternative 2E – New Proposed Southern Tweefort Rural Substation to Frankfort Municipal Substation (approximately 31km in length); . Alternative 2F – New Proposed Northern Tweefort Rural Substation to Frankfort Municipal Substation (approximately 31.5km in length); . Alternative 3A – Frankfort Substation to Windfield Rural Substation (approximately 15km); . Alternative 3B – Frankfort Substation to Windfield Rural Substation (approximately 15km); . Alternative 4A – Windfield Rural Substation to Villiers Substation (approximately 15km); and . Alternative 4B – Windfield Rural Substation to Villiers Substation (approximately 16km). The two alternatives for the proposed substation at Tweefort (Figure i) include the following: . Alternative 1 – Proposed Northern Tweefort Rural Substation . Alternative 2 – Proposed Southern Tweefort Rural Substation ESKOM DISTRIBUTION NORTH WESTERN REGION prepared by: SiVEST Environmental Frankfort Strengthening Project Revision No. 2 7 November 2013 Page ii Figure i: Locality Map of the proposed route corridor and substation alternatives The study area is located within the Free State Province in the heart of South Africa’s Maize triangle. The proposed power lines fall within the greater Fezile Dabe District Municipality and traverse two local municipal areas namely Ngwathe and Mafube Local Municipalities. The proposed line originates from the town of Heilbron and routes eastwards to Frankfort where it then deviates to the north at Villiers. The proposed power line follows on or near to the R34 and the R26. The landscape is predominantly rural in character. Land uses for the greater part of the power line encompass agricultural farming activities. Commercial and residential land uses can be found in the towns of Heilbron, Frankfort and Villiers. All the proposed route corridor alternatives traverse open agricultural areas for the vast majority of their alignments. Where possible, the alternatives run parallel to major and minor roadways, farm boundaries, existing power lines and along the outer periphery of urban areas. Several specialist studies were conducted during the BA to identify the issues associated with the proposed development. These include: . Biodiversity (fauna, flora and avifauna) . Surface water . Floodlines . Agricultural potential and soil . Visual Impact . Heritage ESKOM DISTRIBUTION NORTH WESTERN REGION prepared by: SiVEST Environmental Frankfort Strengthening Project Revision